The Race Is To The Swift Burch

So, I shall be gone for a while, and likely unable to post my football picks. Therefore, here they are in advance, recognising that I shan't be able to account for injuries which shall occur between now and then. Apologies for the lack of commentary.

Calgary and Montreal: Montreal
Ottawa and Winnipeg: Ottawa
Hamilton and B.C. : B.C.
Toronto and Edmonton: Edmonton (I still have faith)

Calgary and Toronto: Toronto
Winnipeg and Hamilton: Winnipeg
Montreal and Edmonton: Edmonton
B.C. and Saskatchewan: B.C.

E-A-Ski

After the fun that was last weekend, Lesley invited us out to her "lake" on Saturday for some waterskiing. Ragan, Cam and I made the trip. I hadn't really tried waterskiing in about 15 years, but it still worked out ok, as I was able to get up and not fall. The lake is actually a rather large pond on a farmer's field outside Sherwood Park. It was quite green (particularly around the edges) but also fairly warm. We had a round of skiing, with a break for snacks. During the break, we threw the football around and played Horse, though, at Lesley's suggestion to prolong the game (and pay tribute to a certain movie) the game was changed to "Smelly Pirate Hooker". We didn't wind up finishing, though I got up to R (one would think I was Trevor Gaylor). At any rate, after the break we went back out for some tubing, which as can be expected led to much amusement. Highlights included Alex's perseverence in continuing to hang onto the tube even after it had flipped over. After tubing, we had a BBQ. Not every day you get a chance to eat a burger whilst waving at cows (I didn't actually do that, as the cows weren't around while we were eating). I had 3 burgers, which were quite good. On the whole it was a fun day. Lesley's parents and brother were also very nice. I am still a little sore from the waterskiing, but that's to be expected.

On the sporting front. I, like my favourite team, had a bit of a rough week last week. While I shan't dwell on what went wrong in this particular post, suffice to say that I'm hopeful that they'll come back better after the bye week.

Saskatchewan and Ottawa
Nealon has seen this movie before. While I can't necessarily blame Danny Barrett for pulling him the past couple of games (he was looking pretty bad against Montreal) I don't think that will do much for his confidence. I also don't think that Marcus Crandell is the answer. At the end of the day, when you have that many injuries on your team it's going to have an impact. Regardless, I don't see Saskatchewan winning this week. Ottawa is on a real roll, with their defence keeping them in games until their offence starts firing. I don't think it will be a blowout or anything, but I still see Ottawa taking this.

Montreal and Toronto
I haven't heard anything as to whether Damon Allen is fully recovered from his injury against Winnipeg. I have however heard that Ben Cahoon will not be suiting up for the Als. At any rate, while Montreal bounced back against Saskatchewan, Toronto really seems to be on another level right now. While this may change if Damon doesn't play, I'm still going with Toronto for the win, pretty much ensuring that the Eastern Final will be in Skydome.

B.C. and Calgary
It should be interesting who starts for the Lions. While it shouldn't really matter, Calgary's defence did give Casey Printers a lot of trouble last year. As well, B.C. is probably due for a let down after a big win last week. That being said, I'm going to play it safe and go with a B.C. win.

Hamilton and Winnipeg
Alright, this is the week Hamilton. The Ti-Cats have come close on several occasions, but I'm thinking this is the week they finally do it. Winnipeg have looked very good and very bad at times, however I think that the Ti-Cats know that this is their best shot at breaking into the win column, and will step it up accordingly. Hamilton should take this one.

Skyrockets In Flight

Went to Jasper this past weekend with a few classmates. It was quite enjoyable. We definitely made up for the lack of physical activity during Stampede weekend.

There was initially talk of leaving on Friday night, but we wound up leaving Saturday morning. We drove out to Hinton, where Alex's sister's in-laws have a place. Apparently it was Rodeo Weekend in Hinton. I was somewhat interested in checking out the beer gardens (beer gardens during rodeo weekends in smaller communities tend to be lots of fun), but it wasn't in the cards.

After settling in, we made our way to Jasper. The line up at the park gates was quite long, so Cam and I got out and walked to the gates from the car. We saw an interpreter handing out "through passes" who said that she hadn't seen it this busy before (though, it was pretty similar the next couple of days). There was a Folk-Fest of sorts going on, so that probably contributed to the busy-ness. On entering the park, we made our way to Miette. We did the Sulphur Skyline hike, which takes you on top of a ridge where you get a great view of the surrounding valleys and mountains. There's really nothing like the feeling when you get to a point and realise that the trail can't go up any further. It's been a while since I've stood at the top of a mountain, and in the previous instance there was a cable car up, so there wasn't the same sense of achievement (for the record, I didn't get lost this time). It was a good hike, though I thought it might kill Roman at points. Additionally, I now understand the value of tea houses at the top of mountains. After the hike, we hit the hot springs. It was a refreshing soak, and they've installed a cold pool since I was last there, so we were able to prolong our stay via periodic dips in the cold pool. After that, we headed back into Hinton, picked up a couple of safeway pizzas, drank rum and watched Will Ferrell movies. Alex hadn't seen Anchorman yet. After the movies it was quite late, so we went to bed. Well, most people went to bed, Cam and Roman stayed up serenading the house with "Dust in the Wind" and "Afternoon Delight"(which emerged as the theme song for the weekend).

The next morning we headed into Jasper for another hike, this time taking on Geraldine Lakes. Cam had an iTrip, so we were able to make use of my iPod on the way in, which made for a lot of Gordon Lightfoot and Gangsta Rap. Particular amusement was placed in the adjacent playing of Aqua's "Dr. Jones" with Spice 1's "Dumpin' 'Em in Ditches". Lesley was quite patient with the use of her car radio. As for the hike itself, it was quite muddy at points. The lake we made it to was quite nice, and we had a good view of a waterfall up past the lake. The incline was fairly steep, and there were parts that were basically just a big boulder field so it was good times jumping over those. After the hike, we headed back into Jasper for some food. We just missed getting free food samples outside the Jasper Brewery Company, and while the hostess was quite nice the food seemed fairly pricey. We went to L & W instead, which was very good. We also shared a couple of pitchers of strawberry daquiri, before returning to Hinton to play some Uno Extreme. I was doing well until the last round, when the wheels fell off.

The next morning we got up and then went into Jasper one more time. We walked around the Jasper Park Lodge for a bit, before heading home. All in all an enjoyable weekend.

This is already rather long, so I will reserve comment on the recent happenings in Oiler-land. Suffice to say this is all quite exciting.

Football.

Saskatchewan and Montreal
Both teams are on a bit of a downward slide as of late. I'm going with Montreal, due to the fact that they've got fewer injuries right now.

Edmonton and B.C.
This should be the game of the week. Both teams haven't been playing as well as they're capable of playing. In spite of the fact that they're a little banged up (though, B.C. is as well), I'm going with Edmonton rising to the occasion and pulling this one off.

Hamilton and Ottawa
Hamilton is better than their record, and they are going to win eventually. It's really tempting to go with them at home in this one, but Ottawa just seems to be on a roll. Maybe next week.

Winnipeg and Calgary
This time Pederson doesn't drop the ball. I'm of the opinion that Calgary got lucky last time around, and while Calgary has played better since then, so has Winnipeg. I'm going with Winnipeg to pull this one out.